Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - Samburu Lmuget, sasaab village, northern Kenya - here the Moran (warriors) celebrate their coming of age. At dawn livestock is ceremonially sacrificed and the Moran join together to celebrate the passage of their time as warriors, and pending initiation of a new generation of Moran - when the African lion population has declined by 43% in the last 20 years and lions now occupy only 8% of their historical range in Africa. The estimated numbers of lions across Africa are approximately 20,000. In Kenya, the national population now numbers less than 2,000 individuals. At current rates of decline, the species could become extinct here within the next two decades. This reduction in lion numbers is primarily due to habitat loss and conflict with humans, typically when lions kill people’s livestock. Lions and other large carnivores are wide-ranging species, and designated protected areas are often not large enough to ensure their long-term survival. It is crucial, therefore, that conservation of these species, as well as their prey, is addressed throughout the landscape, which not only incorporates protected areas, but also the surrounding areas where local people live. @ewasolions is dedicated to conserving lions and other large carnivores by promoting co-existence between people and wildlife, they work hand-in-hand with local communities to provide education, training and improved conservation practices that help people and wildlife, using sound science to help guide the long-term conservation of lions across community conservancies and protected areas in northern Kenya, and I love their work 👍🏿👍🏼💚to see more of it, follow me here @chancellordavid@thephotosociety@everydayextinction - on assignment for @magazinegeo sharing the amazing work of @ewasolions#conserving#conservation#carnevores#northernkenya#kenya

#natgeo100contest - Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - the extraordinary agility of a male leopard trying to drag a rock python out of a thorn bush - scroll through for the full story - I came across this magnificent cat sitting under a thorn bush, that's the first frame. It really couldn’t have cared less about me, which was at first odd, then i noticed what it actually was paying attention too, a huge python sat directly above its head in the thorn bush. The python wasn’t coming down; the leopard wasn’t going up, so they sparred like this whilst I watched and fell even more in love with leopards, the most amazing of all the big bad cats. This story appeared on @natgeo earlier this year with just short of 1 million likes - today @natgeo has just hit 100 million followers ! and I’m humbled to be involved in that journey; this image was listed amongst one of the favourites posted - So as a thanks to all those who follow our work and projects on @natgeo they are having a photo contest for the next 24 hours only. To submit, simply post your most Nat Geo inspired photo on your feed using the hashtag #NatGeo100Contest. The top 10 photos will be posted on @natgeo and the winner gets a photo trip to Tanzania. Good luck! To see more of my work and projects follow me here @natgeo@chancellordavid@thephotosociety and @everydayextinction#leopard#southafrica#conservation#conserving#bigcats#nopoaching#notrade

Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - just to follow up on yesterday’s post, this is relocating elephants from Lewa/Borana landscape northern Kenya, to Tsavo - these are persistent offenders, breaking fences and raiding adjoining farms. This translocation is designed to relocate specific elephants, in this case 9 in total, to areas less prevalent to occurrences of conflict. This is by no means perfect, however, it’s a compromise given the alternative would almost certainly be retaliatory attacks from those subject to the elephants raids. What’s interesting here is the shear number of people who given the opportunity; and in this case as the transfer from truck to trailer happened outside of the conservancies this was available to the general public, who turn out to simply see the wildlife that they often live alongside, rarely see, and generally derive little benefit from. We have to allow those who share their lands to not only share in the benefits derived from them, but also understand and appreciate the issues surrounding their very presence on these lands. Big shout out here to all involved in this complex operation, particularly @kenyawildlifeservice@lewa_wildlife@boranaconservancy@savetheelephants without whose support and expertise this wouldn’t have been possible. Not ideal as I said, but given the inevitable alternative a good result for these elephants currently - I’ll be updating shortly from Tsavo on how they’ve settled in - follow me here @chancellordavid@natgeo@thephotosociety and @everydayextinction#withbutterfliesandwarriors#conserving#conservation#elephant#africa#kenya

Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - Liwonde National Park, Malawi - so this is what we spend our time trying to avoid, and then diffusing the inevitable conflict when these situations do arise. We got a call at dawn from a local village bordering the National Park that an elephant had broken through a fence protecting adjoining farms. Farmers and villagers scattered in all directions as the elephant raided crops, this often results in farmers reaching for weapons to push elephants away, and elephants panicking and killing farmers. It’s a credit to the immense skill of the pilot I was working with from @africanparksnetwork that we were able to gently push the elephant back towards the park, and over the broken fence which rangers later replaced. It’s often the case that once the elephant has discovered how to break a fence (ivory doesn’t conduct electricity so providing the trunk is held up et voila !) it will become a regular offender. De-tusking the elephant the next action taken, and finally if this isn’t successful relocation to an area free of human presence @africanparksnetwork 👍🏿👍🏼🐘💚❤️

Dogs hunting, Richmond, northern cape, South Africa - The amazing work of Daniel Naudé: A Decade of Seeing - Feb 13 – Mar 2, 2019 Everard Read London @everard_read_london@daniel_naude - amazing work 👍🏼👍🏿💚❤️ #southafrica - - These are the Africanis, the original dog of Africa, and they have a proven lineage going back some 7 000 years. Long valued in precolonial South Africa for their hardiness, intelligence, loyalty and hunting ability. But it was only in the 21st century that they began to lose the western stigma of “mongrel”, thanks to the work of two men: dog experts Johan Gallant and Joseph Sithole. For years Gallant and Sithole roamed rural KwaZulu-Natal, studying and photographing the dogs they came across in kraals and homesteads. They concluded that these animals were not a mess of mongrels but members of coherent breed of dog, with a distinct behaviour and appearance. Gallant came up with a name for the breed: “canis” (Latin for dog) and “Africa” – The Africanis is the real African dog – shaped in Africa, for Africa. It's part of the cultural and biological heritage of Africa, descended from dogs pictured in ancient cave art and on Egyptian murals. The earliest remains of the domesticated dog in Africa was found in the Nile delta and dated to 4 700 BC. Today they are found all over southern Africa.

In March 2017 I exhibited ‘Handle like Eggs’ at the Francesca Maffeo Gallery @francescamaffeogallery - much of this work was shown for the first time and journeyed between my private and public work, exploring the themes of love, loss, life and death. The show consisted of approx 30 hand photographic c-type prints by @bwyanoleary@artfuldodgersimaging, one of, if not the finest exponent of this art on the planet today. I’ve worked with him my entire career and I’m indebted to him for his magnificent work here. In this carousel of images you will see 10 of those works. These are exhibition prints, signed, and archival mounted, 48x40 inch, and as exhibition prints they are 1/1 - @francescamaffeogallery has generously made them available and I’m offering them at no fixed price ! Just to be clear no minimum, and no maximum either ! The best offer I receive per print (exc delivery/ or collection from @artfuldodgersimaging London) by direct message, by Monday 18.00 GMT will get the print, 100% of sales will go to the continuation of my work in Kenya. All bids to me please @chancellordavid nit the lovely Francesca who has made this possible. Thank you Francesca and all those who support my work 🙏🏻💚🐘 - should anyone have any queries do let me know - - “I once saw a box. Simply a Tupperware container actually, only slightly grander than that. It was indistinguishable from many other boxes of the same nature other than the fact that it had a strip of white surgical tape on its lid. Written in ‘sharpie’ were the words ‘handle like eggs’. What’s in there ? I asked, ‘it’s a heart.. and ice of course to keep it alive’ came the reply” - ‘handle like eggs’ by David Chancellor.

Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - king cheetah at the pool, hoedspruit, south africa - by way of this post I wanted to respond to all those comments on my previous post, and rest assured I will keep working through those comments and respond to each and every one of them. I’m deeply moved by the response. This may answer a lot of those questions ‘how can you help ?’ - I strongly believe that we can only stop the trade in wildlife products by stopping the demand. We need to educate those who use these products that their demand is decimating wildlife, and killing people, leaving children orphaned and families without fathers, and sons. The knee jerk reaction is ‘kill the poachers!’ It's become obvious to me that dead poachers will simply be replaced by more live ones, unless we remove the market for the products themselves. Poachers respond to demand and for many its simply the last choice they have to support families. We must also therefore allow those who live alongside wildlife to benefit from it’s presence on their lands, and not simply be observers as others benefit. As for 'how can we help ?' please stay engaged, and support those who put their lives on the line to protect wildlife globally, not just here in Africa. I’m humbled by the work of many such organisations and will continue to tag them - @africanparksnetwork@forrangers@r.e.s.c.u.e@ewasolions@kinetic_six@everydayextinction are but a few. Finally, in order to allow me to continue this work in northern Kenya I will be making available some hand photograph c-type prints kindly donated from my recent exhibition ‘handle like eggs’ @francescamaffeogallery - these are exhibition prints, signed, and archival mounted, 48x40 inch, and 29x24 inch, and as exhibition prints they are 1/1 - printed by @bwyanoleary@artfuldodgersimaging who generously support my work, I’ll offer them at no fixed price. The next post will be a carousel of 10 prints, the best offer per print (exc delivery/ or collection from @artfuldodgersimaging London) by direct message here, by Monday 18.00 GMT will get the print, 100% of sales will go to this work in Kenya. Thank you 🙏🏻💚🐘

Photograph by David Chancellor - I think it might be worth posting this, I suggest many might not want to go past the first frame in the carousel. I’ve worked in Kenya for many years now and on this occasion I was working on elephant poaching that had seriously spiked. If you imagine the scene - we had raced at breakneck speed across appalling terrain in response to the sound of gunshots. We arrived just after sunset and my main concern was that we were loosing light. We found a ranger who was on foot and walked to the rough location of the shot. What hit me first was a smell from my youth whilst working part time in a butchers shop, it stopped me dead in my tracks and transported me to another place years ago. In front of me I could see a sleeping elephant, it was incredibly calm, and yet I could smell meat. As we slowly moved forwards we could see it wasn’t breathing; we still weren’t aware if those responsible for the gunshot were there, or not. Then it became obvious that in front of me was a trunk, a severed trunk. We froze. Often poachers will cut the face from the elephant inc tusk and trunk, fled the scene and remove the ivory away from the incident. I still couldn’t work out why the sleeping elephant was there, and where was the poached one ? As I moved around to the front of the elephant I literately slumped onto my knees. The tranquil scene was now one of utter brutality. I will never forget this scene. Nor will I forget those who work to stop this, and those who take in the orphans from such events. I love elephants, they continue to reduce me to tears in so many ways, most often laughter, occasionally not. Keep engaged. Keep them alive 👍🏿👍🏼🐘💚❤️

Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - an orphaned baby elephant scuttles across an arid landscape, Tanzania - it’s often only when you come across images like this that you realise the extraordinary survival challenges faced by wildlife in these magnificent but challenging landscapes. Without its mother orphaned baby elephants can only survive a few days in the wild. When first meeting a baby elephant it will lift up its trunk and expects you to blow into it, that done, it will remember you forever, you will never be strangers again, a bond of trust is established @r.e.s.c.u.e - Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, Samburu, northern Kenya is home to the first community owned elephant orphanage in Africa. I flew over this extraordinary landscape with Jeremy several years ago. Sitting behind him in his Super Cub; we’d left before dawn to shoot landscapes of the Mathews Range, I listened to him talk excitedly about his and Katie’s plans for this incredible place. Designed to Rescue and release orphaned and abandoned elephant calves, whilst creating much needed benefits to the local people that live alongside them, The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, is the finest representation of the communities of this region standing up united for wildlife, in recognition of the value that they can cultivate. Opportunities are being created, livelihoods are improving and wildlife is returning, proving that nature can provide a sustainable economy for the populations that occupy its magnificent ecosystem. The orphaned elephant that are cared for by the Samburu community, are symbols of a new wave of thinking about wildlife and the environment, that goes far beyond traditional conservation methods, and dives deeper into the core value of what nature represents. Humbled and inspired to see what they’ve achieved here. Follow their work here @r.e.s.c.u.e#withbutterfliesandwarriors

Photograph by David Chancellor @chancellordavid - this is ‘andou’ a new arrival @r.e.s.c.u.e having a doze on the warm soil after a first feed - Without its mother orphaned baby elephants can only survive a few days in the wild. When first meeting a baby elephant it will lift up its trunk and expects you to blow into it, that done, it will remember you forever, you will never be strangers again, a bond of trust is established @r.e.s.c.u.e - Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, Samburu, northern Kenya is home to the first community owned elephant orphanage in Africa. I flew over this extraordinary landscape with Jeremy several years ago. Sitting behind him in his Super Cub; we’d left before dawn to shoot landscapes of the Mathews Range, I listened to him talk excitedly about his and Katie’s plans for this incredible place. Designed to Rescue and release orphaned and abandoned elephant calves, whilst creating much needed benefits to the local people that live alongside them, The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, is the finest representation of the communities of this region standing up united for wildlife, in recognition of the value that they can cultivate. Opportunities are being created, livelihoods are improving and wildlife is returning, proving that nature can provide a sustainable economy for the populations that occupy its magnificent ecosystem. The orphaned elephant that are cared for by the Samburu community, are symbols of a new wave of thinking about wildlife and the environment, that goes far beyond traditional conservation methods, and dives deeper into the core value of what nature represents. Humbled and inspired to see what they’ve achieved here. Follow their work here @r.e.s.c.u.e#withbutterfliesandwarriors